Zibo Customs recently issued Authorized Economic Operator, or AEO, certification to five local companies – including INTCO Recycling and Luyang Energy-Saving Materials Co Ltd – making the city in East China's Shandong province home to 17 AEO certification holders.
The AEO program is intended to boost the new Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, a giant trading accord of Asia-Pacific countries – including China and many of its neighbors – which came into force at the start of the year and which is expected to see tariffs either substantially reduced or go to zero between its members.
Under the program, Customs authorities from various countries and regions form partnerships with industry to collaboratively cut barriers to Customs procedures and enhance international trade efficiency, according to information released by the General Administration of Customs.
"After we obtained AEO certification the customs clearance times for our goods decreased, which greatly reduced costs and enhanced our competitiveness," said Wang Lili, trading manager of INTCO Recycling.
Wang said that with 15 percent year-on-year growth, the value of INTCO Recycling's exports hit 430 million yuan ($64.19 million) in the first five months of this year.
To ensure steady and high-quality growth in the city's foreign trade, Zibo Customs has promoted the development of an import and export credit system, offered guidance on better management measures that have been introduced – such as the online and offline training – and provided certified enterprises with 24/7 consulting and coordinating services.
Those initiatives have paid off handsomely. The total value of imports and exports of Zibo's AEO certification holders was 4.02 billion yuan, accounting for 11.9 percent of the city's value, in the Jan-to-May period. Of that, exports to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative surged by 58.9 percent year-on-year during the period to 2.09 billion yuan.
